JUNE 2015 NEWSLETTER

First Presbyterian Church 225 North Holcombe, Litchfield, MN 55355 PO Box 6

www.firstpreslitch.org ch:320-693-3548 Pastor’s cell: 320-221-0489

Upcoming Events

Sunday: June 7th Graduate Sunday

Tuesday, June 9 CCC meeting at

4:00; Session meeting at 7:00

Wednesday, June 10 Fishing trip on

Green Lake...

Leave church at 12:30, meet at

dock at 1:30

Thursday, June 11 Home

Communions 3:15ish

Gordy and Julie to Continuing

Education workshop Friday, June 19

thru Sunday June 28

Friday: June 19th: 1:30 PM Card

making at WINGS!

Tuesday, June 23 Finance

committee at 4:30

First Presbyterian Church

225 North Holcombe / PO Box 6

Litchfield, MN 55355

Pastor Gordy Pennertz

Website: www.firstpreslitch.org

****Secretary’s email:

mrsp57@nutelecom.net

Pastor Gordy & Julie Rae

703 West Crescent Lane

Litchfield, MN 55355

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, Ah, summer!! The hectic schedules of school are over for

three months, many of us are planning getaways, either long

weekends at the lake or time with family and friends. Julie and I

will be getting away during June. We are attending the

Washington Island Forum, a workshop called “Re-appropriating

the Word”. Preacher John Ball from Scotland is the presenter. We

look forward to instruction in in Scottish rogue. He has presented

all over the world and the goal is to “open up a more holistic

appreciation for the Word of God that values its intentionally

diverse character. The schedule has these units--The Curse of

Literacy, Retell Me the Old, Old Story, Missing Women, The

Importance of the Imagination, and What Shall We Tell the Children. We are looking forward to getting away to an Island in

Lake Michigan reachable only by ferry boat, getting inspired for

and by the Word and enjoying some free time exploring the

wonders of nature. Pray for us and I hope to come back with

some great sermon stories!

The peace of God be with you!

Pastor Gordy

Verse for June: So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new

creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has

become new!

2 Corinthians 5:17

“As servants of God, we open our doors wide with the heart of

Jesus welcoming all as children of God. We strive to provide

spiritual growth and support for all through prayer and community

and the acceptance of mutual respect.”

June Communion Servers: Amy V., Stephanie S., Susan B., Dottie M.

Liturgist: Ushers:

7-Susan Berg Joldersma Family

14-Shirley Brooks Kay Hanson

21-Kay Hanson Judy Holmes

28-Judy Holmes Sierra Joldersma

Money Counters: 7-Judy Holmes& Arlyce Dedrickson

14-Emily Osmundson & Shirley Brooks

21-Wade Viehauser & Michael Joldersma

28-Shirley Brooks & Jayne Ackman

Worship Committee Sanctuary

Duty

June: Jayne July: Rosie

August: Rhonda September:

Julie Rae

LITURGY FOR JUNE:

7-Psalm 138 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 Mark 3:20-35

14th: Psalm 20 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13) 14-17

Mark 4:26-34

21st: Psalm 133 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Mark 4:35-41

28th: Psalm 130 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Mark 5:21-43

Word of the Month:

We all sing the doxology after the offering each

Sunday. Doxology comes from the Greek—

this is a simple one this month—doxologia.

Its meaning is “a short hymn of praise to God.”

We sing the common: Praise God, from whom

all blessings flow; Praise him (or God), all creatures here below;

Praise him (or God) above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son,

and Holy Ghost. Amen. But the term doxology includes the

Gloria Patri as well. These are the most common, but different

denominations have their own versions and types of doxologies.

JUNE

4-Mariah Crosbie

11-Tim Law (Kay

Hanson’s Husband)

15-Don & Jayne

Ackman (30?)

18-Dottie & Marshall

Madsen (60th!)

23-Susan Berg

24-Dottie Madsen

24-Roger Landers

27-Melva Burnette

27-Scott Rech

28-Jim & Lila

Lundberg

COFFEE HOUR

SERVERS

7-Susan Berg 14-Dottie Madsen 21-Lauretta Hanson 28-Jayne Ackman

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN NEWS

The Lilac Luncheon was a tremendous success this year. Thanks to Shirley Good and the quilt that she donated to

be raffled for the church, as well as the ones she brought for us to display at the quilt show. We had a good crowd that were enticed to come to attend the Luncheon. A big thank you goes out to her. Another big thank you goes to Kay Hanson and her crew for working to display the quilts and stand guard over them. The Quilt was won by Bev Driver and she also won some of the towels that were also made and donated by Shirley. The raffle netted $162. Due to the many who worked and made a generous amount of salads and the money brought in from the raffle and the 185+ who were served, the profits totaled about $1450. Many thanks to all who worked and participated in many ways. Your hard work was much appreciated. Ann Abramson, PW Coordinator

“The STORY” Bible Study: We will take the summer off and resume in the fall.

Deacons Communion Schedule: June 7: Amy Viehauser July 5: Julie Rae Pennertz August 2: Savannah Joldersma September 6: Harriet Koelln October 4: David Pennertz November 1: Stephanie Rech December 6: Amy Viehauser December 24: Amy Viehauser and help

January 2016: David Pennertz

June

1-Roger & Roz Landers

2-Jim & Lila Lundberg

3-Amy Levinski

4-Marshall & Dottie

Madsen

5-Jerry Meuleners

6-Emily Morrison

7-Emily Osmundson

8-David & Katie Pennertz

9-Pastor Gordy & Julie

Rae Pennertz

10-Heidi & Richard

Pennertz Ariel, William,

Viola, Rebekah, & Conor

11-Tina Pennertz

12-Scott & Stephanie

Rech

13-Orville Reinke

14-Chad & Stephanie

Savoy

15-Cicily Savoy

16-Kris Torkelson

17-Wade & Amy

Viehauser & Luciella

18-Philip & Leetha

Waldron

19-Bill & Bev Barr

20-Lois Beckstrand

21-Rev Mark & Nancy

Chamberlain

22-Dave & Sharon Detert

23-Deb Holmes

24-Rick & Carrie Johnson

25-Russell Joldersma

26-Christa & Jacob

Joseph

27-Wes & Kathy Peters

28-Sara & Ty Schneider

29-Truman Stehr

Fishing/Boat Rides:

Everyone is invited to join “Let's Go

Fishing” for an afternoon on beautiful

Green Lake! We've done this several

years and always have a great time.

There is a sign-up sheet in the

Memorial room; please let us know by

Sunday June 7th.

SESSION MINUTES: The Session of First Presbyterian Church met on May 12, 2015 for their stated meeting, in the Memorial Room. Elders present were: Arlyce Dedrickson, Sue Berg,Shirley Brooks, and Wade Viehauser. Absent were: Judy Holmes and Emily Osmundson. A quorum was established. Pastor Gordy opened the meeting with the Lord’s Prayer. The Elder training was from the book, “Big Lessons from Little Places”, by Kay Collier MCLaughlin. The agenda was approved. Jessica Hasslen will speak on Sunday May 17, 2015, and the Session approved presenting her with a check for $500.00. The Quilter’s Workshop and the Lilac Luncheon will be held the 19th and 20th here at the church. Pastor Gordy, Sue Berg, and Amy Levinski attended the Presbytery meeting in St. Cloud. The Wings Mission Project of our church was presented to the group by Sue with a display she made featuring it. There will be a fishing trip/boat ride on Green Lake on June 10 at 1:30 for those who wish to go. The meeting was closed with our Blessings Prayer. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Driver, Clerk

Congratulations to Sierra Joldersma, our

2015 graduate, whom we will celebrate on

Graduate Sunday, June 7th, during

morning worship. Sierra will be

attending NDSU in the fall. Blessings to

Sierra in her future endeavors!

30- Ann Abramson

ACCEPTANCE

At times, life can feel like one

big self-improvement program.

There is always some habit you

could gain more control over,

some skill you’d like to perfect,

or some character trait that

you feel could use an extra

season of growth. But, in

God’s eyes, you’re already

perfect—no matter where you

are on the road to maturity.

This very minute, God accepts

you exactly the way you are.

Certainly, He encourages you

to continue to mature. But,

knowing you’re accepted, no

matter what, gives you the

freedom to be yourself, without

reservation. Rejection is not His

way. This means you can relax

and enjoy your relationship

with God. He loves you just the

way you are.

“Honor God by accepting each

other, as Christ as accepted you.”

Romans 15:7

“”If God accepts me as I am,

then I had better do the same.”

Hugh Montefiore

“Jesus accepts you the way you

are, but loves you too much to

leave you that way.” Lee

Venden

“To the praise of the glory of His

grace, wherein HE hath made us

accepted in the beloved.”

Ephesians 1:6

“Accept the fact that you are

accepted” Paul Tillich

Cucumber sandwiches from Rosie (We enjoyed

these at the women’s potluck at Pennertz’s)

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup miracle whip

7 oz. package Italian dressing (dry)

Mix together and set in fridge

Bake a loaf of tube French bread

Cut French bread and spread mixture on French bread and put a

sliced

cucumber on top and sprinkle dill weed on top of cucumber.

Dead Church Story

A new pastor in Topeka, Kansas, USA, spent the first four days making personal visits to each of his

prospective congregation inviting them to come to his inaugural services. The following Sunday the

church was all but empty. Accordingly, the pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that,

because the church was dead, it was everyone's duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral

would be held the following Sunday afternoon. Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the

'funeral'. In front of the pulpit they saw a closed coffin which was covered in flowers. After the priest

had delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay

their final respects to their dead church.

Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a 'dead church', all the people eagerly

lined up to look in the coffin. Each 'mourner' peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a

guilty, sheepish look.

In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror.

We will be once again going to

WINGS and making cards with the

youth that are there on the 19th of

June at 1:30 PM. The youth LOVE

to have us come and we are

building relationships with them

that can only help them. Be a

beacon. Shine God’s light. Come

and share the fun and make a

card (you don’t have to be

crafty!!)